Orchard of Mines
by o-o-o-VampirianWolfGirl-o-o-o
Summary: Hollow Bastion Re:coded. SLASH – Cloud/Leon.


**Hello readers! Here is my first attempt at a Kingdom Hearts fic! Its CLEON aka Leon/Cloud! So you know the drill, if you're a homophobe, then leave, simple as that. I've had this idea since I started playing Kingdom Hearts 2, which was only two months ago, -_- yeah, yeah I know, I was under-privileged growing up :D I had no idea about Kingdom Hearts until a few years ago, and then I only bought the first game in March this year. So, yeah, I'm slow on the uptake but better late than never! **

**Anyway, when playing the game I got so many ideas as to what the Hollow Bastion restoration committee get up to when Sora isn't there. I decided to write a few ideas down and then this story SPAWNED! Kukukuku! It follows the events of Hollow Bastion in the game, but I've added and deducted a few things, creating my own recipe of awesome! I also love SLASH and Leon/Cloud stories, so I tied that in. **

**Another thing you will see throughout the story is lyrics from the song 'Orchard of Mines' by Globus, which I only discovered 2 weeks ago when I YouTube 'Zack and Cloud' and I got all these awesome fan-made videos! The one that struck me the most and actually had me crying so much by the end of it was called 'Crisis Core: Zack Fair Tribute' by ****SilverThorneIris**** . You should check it out! It's beautiful! It actually inspired some of the ideas in this fic. I'm not actually into the whole 'lyrics in a fic' thing, but this song was so VERY fitting for Cloud and now every time I hear it I immediately associate it with the video, Zack Fair and Cloud. Hope you enjoy this! **

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did do you think I would be writing here? Actually... yes I STILL would be, but I'd be writing in GOLD font baby! Woooo! ;D **

**Warning: This is a slash fic! There won't be a lemon (sowy I have never written one, and I'm not ready to do so, plus lemons are EVERYWHERE nowadays, so go there for a fix! I know I do ;D ) but there will be cursing every now and then.**

**Summary (or lack thereof): Hollow Bastion Re:coded. SLASH – Cloud/Leon.**

_**Chapter One: Behind Stone Walls**_

_**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**_

_**Don't taint this ground**_

_**With the colour of the past**_

_**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**_

The Radiant Garden Restoration Committee were having an extremely busy morning; busier than usual in fact. What with the heartless and occasional nobodies roaming around and causing havoc; they also had recently discovered the location of the town's main computer system, and were currently trying to track its location thoroughly, through a data GPS from Cid's computer in Merlin's house.

It was this which was causing a small disagreement among the committee, and 'committee' is normally rounded off to Cid and Merlin.

"Confound it, Highwind! Magic would work so much faster than that box of metal!" Merlin said, cursing in his own unique 'Merlin' way to Cid, who was trying not to type too hard out of anger and thus causing any damage to the keyboard.

"Now listen here, you old coot! This thing managed to find Sora, Donald and Goofy on their Gummi ship and bring them here, so it _will _find the main computer in no time, unless you keep interfering and pissing me off!" Cid yelled at Merlin, trying to keep his eyes on the screen and not turn around and punch Merlin in the face.

Old or not, Merlin's magic compensated for his age, so Cid felt no guilt in hitting him if he had to.

Merlin was about to say a rather maturely ranked remark at Cid before he was interrupted...

"Enough!" Leon said as he gently massaged the side of his forehead with his index finger, trying to sooth his newly developed headache.

Merlin walked off, muttering nonchalant words under his breath, as he made his way over to where he kept his spell book; reading it always seemed to calm him down.

"Why do we have to find the computer anyway? We can control it just fine here..." Yuffie asked, from her sitting position on Merlin's chair.

"Because once found, we will be able to gain further access to the computer program and see what else is stored on there." Cid answered, his voice sounding much calmer when he didn't have Merlin hovering over his shoulder.

Yuffie pouted in response, still not getting the importance of the situation, and continued swaying her legs back and forth, which didn't even reach the floor from Merlin's large chair.

"Leon, have you found someone who can hand out the flyers in the market place?" Came Aerith's melodic voice from the front of Merlin's house.

All eyes turned to Aerith as she entered the small house, with a basket full of wild flowers.

"What flyers?" Asked Yuffie as Leon shook his head in response to Aerith's question, which made Aerith frown.

"Don't you remember? For the defence classes that Leon said he would host to help train Hollow Bastion residents who are willing to fight when the situation calls for it." Merlin responded as he approached Aerith's basket of flowers with curiosity.

"Don't forget to breathe when speaking..."Cid muttered loud enough for all to hear.

Merlin chose to ignore the cheap shot at an insult, and instead focused his attention onto Aerith.

"Interesting collection of flowers Aerith, are you going to make some sort of spell with them?" Merlin asked, getting excited, he loved discovering and making new spells.

Aerith shook her head and smiled politely.

"A potion?" Merlin asked.

Again Aerith shook her head.

"An ointment?"

"Isn't that the same as a potion?" Cid asked, to which Merlin shook his head while Yuffie nodded.

"A perfume?" Merlin continued.

"No, I'm going to decorate your home a bit Merlin." Aerith said with a small giggle before proceeding to place some of the flowers into an old, dusty vase.

Merlin's excitement had deflated by Aerith's statement, which caused Yuffie to laugh at his reaction while Cid shook his head.

"You need a girlfriend Merlin..." Cid said, trying not to chuckle at his own words.

Before Merlin could say something in retaliation, Cid's computer beeped loudly.

"Found it!" Cid yelled triumphantly, as he continued typing on the keyboard.

"Where is it located?" Yuffie asked in excitement, hoping somewhere far and dangerous on this world; she was bored and wanted a little adventure.

"Here are the coordinates..." Cid said, pointing to the screen, he looked over his shoulder at Leon who was leaning against the wall, with his arms folded.

Leon frowned, analysing the coordinates, before looking at Cid. "You're an airman, don't you know where that is?"

Cid scoffed, "Kid, I know where that is, I just wanted to see if _you_ did."

"Don't call me kid. I'm ex-military; SeeDs made sure you learnt something as simple as coordinates."

"Okay okay, don't get all high and mighty with me Leon, I was just saying..."

Leon lightly glared at Cid, he was _not_ getting high and mighty or whatever stupid thing Cid had just said.

"Can one of you chuckle heads please tell us where that is?" Yuffie asked impatiently.

"The location is in Hollow Bastion's Castle, Ansem's Castle." Cid answered, since he figured Leon won't talk anymore, he had already said his maximum of 30 words for the day.

"Makes sense, he was like the leader of Hollow Bastion. Cool, when are we gonna infiltrate?" Yuffie asked, jumping down from Merlin's chair, and landing besides Leon.

"You're not, I'm going alone." Leon stated.

"What! Aw, come on Leon!" Yuffie answered with an angered pout.

"It has been locked up for years Yuffie. We don't know what is hiding in there." Aerith answered.

"Come on just let her go, she ain't a ninja for nothing." Cid said, while lighting up a cigarette, which caused a reaction from Merlin.

"Not in here!" Merlin said, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Cid, making the cigarette disappear from his lips.

"Damn it! Do you know how much they cost? Can't you just use magic to get rid of the smoke instead?" Cid asked, while reaching into his pocket for another cigarette.

"Light it up and _you_ will be the next to vanish!" Merlin threatened.

Cid huffed, and put the cigarette back in his pocket.

"Come Yuffie." Leon said before turning around and heading to the door, he stopped three metres from it, when the doorknob started to turn.

Leon frowned, along with everyone else who watched the door with curiosity. The entire committee were here, who in Hollow Bastion would enter Merlin's house before knocking? And they knew it couldn't possibly be Sora, as he had just left Hollow Bastion yesterday.

Leon placed his hand on the handle of his gunblade, just in case it was a heartless or nobody who decided to ignore the warning signals of the five strong fighters in the house.

The door opened fully, to reveal someone of silver, black leather and blonde hair.

"Cloud?" Leon questioned, surprised to see the ex-SOLDIER back here so soon.

Cloud nodded at Leon, his own way of acknowledging someone/saying hello.

"Yay! Chocobo-head is back! Now life won't be so boring!" Yuffie exclaimed before running up to Cloud and jumping at him for a hug.

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise before he had to catch Yuffie, otherwise said ninja would have fallen on the ground at his feet.

Yuffie wrapped her legs around Cloud's waist and her arms around his neck and hugged the living day lights out of him. Cloud awkwardly patted her back, he didn't mind hugs he just couldn't do them in front of so many people... stage fright and all that.

Yuffie then jumped down and grabbed Leon's arm, "Come on Squally, we got work to do!" She said as she dragged him out of Merlin's house, causing Cloud to step aside as they walked past him.

"That's Leon..." Leon answered back as he let himself be dragged out by the hyper ninja.

"Yeah, yeah, 'Leon' it is then... hey Cloud, wanna come?" Yuffie asked, pausing just outside the door.

"Where?" Cloud asked, showing only the faintest hint of interest and curiosity, which was actually a lot in Cloud's case.

"We found the town's main computer system up at Ansem's castle. It has been locked for years so there are no guarantees for your safety..." Leon said.

Cloud shrugged and followed them out, better to go someplace dangerous than stay here and get asked questions he wasn't ready to answer.

Before Cloud closed the door Aerith reached him, "Cloud, how long will you be staying?" She asked sweetly, she had to prepare a room for him.

"A while." He answered vaguely.

"Okay, talk later?" She asked with a smile, before starting to close the door.

Cloud nodded then placed his hand on her shoulder for a few seconds as a friendly gesture. Cloud always seemed to have a soft spot for Aerith.

He turned to find Leon and Yuffie staring at him, waiting for him to follow. Cloud looked down and started walking.

The walk to the Castle was rather un-eventful, if you counted heartless appearing every now and then, uneventful.

The walk through the Borough was safe enough as Bookmasters weren't that much of a challenge, but once you reached the Bailey and beyond, the heartless got nastier.

Though among the three of them, they had it sorted in no time. The heartless didn't stand a chance against a ninja, an ex-SOLDIER and ex-SeeDs.

"Man, these heartless are never a challenge anymore..." Yuffie complained as she and Cloud waited for Leon to sort through the many keys he had on him until he found the one that fits the gate for the Restoration Site.

As soon as Leon opened the gate another heartless had appeared, though this one was different from the others. The difference was the size, it was huge, green and round.

"You spoke to soon..."Leon said to Yuffie before pulling out the gunblade again and running at the heartless.

"Don't try and pin this on me...!" Yuffie yelled as she ran up behind the heartless and gave it an impressive and powerful kick.

Cloud pulled out the buster and dived into the air, intending on landing on the heartless from above and slicing it in half, yet as he did so, the heartless also jumped into the air.

"Cloud!" Yuffie yelled, as he collided with it.

Good thing Cloud had quick reflexes. He crouched on top of the heartless when his feet collided with its head, or what he presumed was its head, and then jumped off of it, flying high into the air.

"Hey I remember what these are called now! They are Morning Stars!" Yuffie stated as she aimed for the Morning Star with another kick.

"That's not something to celebrate Yuffie. Morning Stars can't be destroyed with magic, which means close combat fighting..." Leon said, before he charged again at the Morning Star.

"What's so bad about that?" Yuffie asked, as she leaped out of the way as Leon slashed at the heartless.

The Morning Star then started to spin around, very quickly, and then threw itself towards Leon, who almost got hit if it wasn't for an extremely fast, leather clad ex-SOLDIER who appeared on top of the Morning Star again and sliced all the way through, causing it to disappear.

A large, pink heart floated towards the sky and vanished, while Cloud landed swiftly on the ground, on his own two feet.

"Not bad for a SOLDIER!" Yuffie teased, though she was impressed as always at Cloud's fighting skills.

"When the heartless start attacks like that, then close combat is bad." Leon said, answering Yuffie's question from moments before.

"That's _ex_-SOLDIER." Cloud said, in retaliation to Yuffie's 'compliment'.

"You know what, you men require more delicate wording than us women do!" Yuffie said, before sticking her chin up high and continued along the path of the Restoration Site.

Leon and Cloud both kept the gunblade and buster sword in their hands, while staying on guard as they followed Yuffie down the path.

They encountered more Morning Stars along with a few Neoshadows, before finally arriving at the Postern barely unscathed. While Yuffie explored the Postern, Leon was able to ask Cloud the question that has been on his mind since Cloud's arrival at Merlin's.

"Why are you back so soon?" Leon asked, as he leaned against the brick wall, facing Cloud's back, who was standing and looking out at the view of Hollow Bastion that the Postern provided.

Cloud barely moved, he didn't show Leon that he had heard him, though Leon knew Cloud by now to know that he was thinking of an answer.

"Wanted to be here..." Cloud said, before trailing off.

"And?" Leon pushed, knowing there was more to the answer.

"I have a feeling Sephiroth will be here sooner or later." Cloud answered, before giving Leon a quick glance over his shoulder.

"Hm." Leon murmured in response to Cloud's reasoning.

"How long...was I gone?" Cloud asked. He never kept track of the days anymore, not now that he knew Hollow Bastion was stable enough to not need all strong fighters around to protect it.

"Two weeks."

Cloud turned around, surprise evident in his eyes, yet not on his facial features. It took one to know Cloud well enough to read his eyes for emotion, as his face was trained to be neutral and cold, like that of any SOLDIER.

"Feels like longer."

Leon nodded, "It normally does when you don't keep track of your days anymore..."

"Hn."

"Hey guys! I found some stairs! They lead to a door!" Yuffie yelled in excitement, interrupting further conversation between Leon and Cloud.

"Traditionally, that's what stairs do, Yuffie..." Leon told her when he and Cloud reached her at the top of the stairs.

"Ha, ha! Very funny." She said, poking her tongue out at Leon, before descending down the stairs.

When Leon had turned to Cloud he could have sworn he saw a faint smile of amusement on his face at Leon's attempt at humour. But Leon was pretty sure he was just imagining it.

They descended down the Postern's stairs, and came face to face with the door Yuffie had mentioned. Yuffie placed her hand on the door handle and pulled, but the door would not budge.

"Now what?" Yuffie asked, pouting again.

Leon almost chuckled at her expression, _almost_, as her face resembled that of Sora's.

Instead of chuckling, Leon picked up his set of keys and shook them in front of Yuffie's face.

"That would work here Squall, but look..." Yuffie pointed to the spot on the door where there should have been a keyhole, but in fact, wasn't.

Leon bit his tongue, not wanting to scold Yuffie at the use of his old name twice in one day. She probably didn't even notice she had said it.

Instead, Leon pulled out the gunblade from its holster on his leather pants. Yuffie moved away from the door, standing beside Cloud, as in one swift movement, Leon had directed the gunblade to slice off the door handle, leaving the door ajar.

"Well, that's not intimidating or creepy at all..." Yuffie muttered, indicating to the dark nothingness that lay beyond the door.

"Come on." Leon said, putting his keys back in his jacket, and holding the gunblade with two hands.

Leon led the others inside, it was pitch black. Without it having to be voiced, the three warriors placed their hands on the wall of the Corridors; measuring in estimated metres how far away the door behind them was as they walked further into the darkness.

"I can't see anything!" Yuffie said, a few minutes later, when their eyes _should _have adjusted to the dark.

"I can." Cloud stated.

"Damn you and your mako!" Yuffie said loudly.

"Yuffie, don't yell..." Leon muttered, coming to a stop, as his foot hit what felt like a new set of stairs.

It wasn't the stairs that were stopping him though; Leon felt that something was lurking ahead, not a few metres in front of them. He could feel goose bumps rising on the back of his neck and arms, never a good sign.

But before Leon could voice caution to Yuffie and Cloud, he heard Cloud run ahead of him, and hit something with his buster sword.

"Cloud?" Yuffie yelled, scared for his safety.

As soon as Yuffie spoke, the entire corridor lit up. But not with the castle's lighting, instead huge balls of fire were erupting before their eyes.

"Oh God, not these..." Yuffie said, before pulling out her fuma shuriken and throwing it at the large, red and black flying heartless, which almost resembled a square shaped mushroom.

"Leon look out!" Yuffie yelled again, as a huge fireball had appeared behind Leon, who ran and ducked in time before it exploded.

"Thanks Yuffie, what is it?" Leon asked, as he, Cloud and Yuffie circled the flying heartless.

"Crimson Jazz!" Yuffie said, before rolling away in time, as another fire ball had emitted from the thin air.

The Crimson Jazz flew towards Cloud, who lifted up his buster sword in time, just as the heartless threw a fire ball at him. The buster sword repelled the fire, directing itself back towards the Crimson Jazz, who took the attack as if it was nothing.

Yuffie shook her head, "That won't work Cloud, you either freeze them or..."

Cloud nodded in response before running at the heartless, colliding with it and knocking it into the peach coloured castle wall, with the buster sword impaling the Crimson Jazz, right through.

The Crimson Jazz shook violently, before vanishing, its pink heart, disappearing into the castle ceiling.

"...or hit them with weapons...you know, what if that wasn't going to be one of the options I was going to say? You would have been stuck close to a dangerous heartless, because you were reckless enough to impale it right through so that your sword got stuck in the wall! You're an idiot sometimes, Cloud!" Yuffie yelled at him, as he pulled out the buster sword from said wall.

Cloud didn't say anything, instead he walked up to Leon and reached over his shoulder, the flick of a switch later, and the whole corridor had light.

Leon turned around in surprise, seeing the light switch was conveniently right behind him. At least he knew where it was now.

"Damn it, Cloud! Are you listening?" Yuffie continued on with her rant, not caring that they could see clearly again.

Cloud just walked up to her and placed his hand on her head, ruffling her raven locks for a few seconds before continuing on down the corridor and out of sight.

"Humph..." Yuffie pouted, before taking Leon's gunblade free hand, and pulling him along, after Cloud.

They trio continued down the path, they encountered at least half a dozen more Crimson Jazz, which were located at nearly every corner of the maze-like corridors. This time though, they were ready to take them on, with Blizzaga spells and quick attacks, they finally reached Ansem's Study, un-scorched.

"Wow, what a mess..." Yuffie said, voicing all of their thoughts, as the light revealed to them a study that was littered with papers everywhere.

Leon frowned as he circled the small, circular room, "I don't see how a super computer could fit in here..."

Cloud had also started circling the room, but instead of staying to the middle of the study, he placed his hand on the wall, and kept to the edge. Leon looked up, upon seeing what Cloud was doing he walked to the other side of the study and replicated Cloud's actions.

Yuffie sat at Ansem's chair and started reading through the papers, trying to find any hints or clues that could help them.

Leon and Cloud continued walking along the study walls, concentrating on feeling anything on the walls that shouldn't be there. Leon was looking down, watching his feet, to help him concentrate better on his hand.

He stopped when he walked into something solid, his eyes landing on a pair of leather combat boots - Cloud.

Leon looked up, his face a few inches away from Cloud's. He almost blushed in embarrassment and took a step back; instead choosing to frown at Cloud's haltered movements. Why had he stopped?

Cloud stared at Leon for a moment, before nodding his head to his right, indicating towards the bookshelf that both Leon and Cloud's hands were settled on.

Cloud had his hand over a gap between the bookshelf and the wall, Leon placed his own hand under Cloud's, and sure enough, even through their leather covered hands, they could both feel a cold draft coming through the gap.

Leon fully turned to face the bookshelf, and placed both of his hands on its surface, Cloud replicated Leon's actions, and they both pushed. Upon hearing a click, they stopped and stepped back. The bookshelf disappeared behind the wall, revealing a metal floor and a hidden pathway to a secret room.

"Why are secret rooms _always_ behind bookcases? It's so obvious nowadays that that would be the first place to look..." Yuffie said, more to herself than to the two men in her presence.

"Yet it was the last place we looked." Cloud said in response, eyeing the glass and metal room with caution.

Leon was about to proceed forward, into the unknown area, when a strong hand stopped him. Leon looked down at his wrist, which was being wrapped with Cloud's leather covered hand.

Leon turned around to see that Cloud wasn't even looking at him, but instead staring straight ahead at the secret room. On closer inspection, Leon could see from Cloud's eyes that Cloud was miles away from here; lost in a world and a time that was locked in his memories.

"Cloud?" Leon asked, slightly concerned, he didn't care that the man had his wrist in what felt like a vice, he was concerned as to what could possess Cloud to suddenly become scared.

He could see it in his eyes; Cloud was remembering something he wished he couldn't.

Cloud shook his head, realising where he was, and looked down at his hand which was still wrapped tightly around Leon's wrist. He let go instantly, as if he didn't even realise that his body would react on reflex like _that_.

"If you go any further, I can't be there to protect you..." Cloud muttered, before turning around and exiting Ansem's Study.

"What the hell was all that about?" Yuffie asked coming to stand besides Leon.

Leon stared off at the door, where Cloud exited, before turning around to face Yuffie. He nodded towards the direction of the secret room, "Come on." He said, under his breath.

He would talk to Cloud later, right now, he had a job to do, and abandoning said job to look for Cloud would cause suspicion from the others. Leon was quite sure Cloud wouldn't want the little scene he just caused to go beyond these stone walls.

"Don't mention that to anyone." Leon told Yuffie sternly.

"What do you take me for?" Yuffie asked, looking insulted at Leon's lack of faith in her trust.

Leon shrugged, "Just in case..."

Leon stepped forward onto the metal flooring, the place giving him goose bumps from the cold air. Strange that a room locked away would have air this cold circulating through it.

These thoughts in Leon's head were soon answered as he walked further along onto a glass-made path. He came across a scene that was such an eye opener, he almost gasped in surprise. Straight ahead was an enormous chamber, which had walls running, what looked like, as high as the castle itself.

On either side of the walls were huge metal objects. They closely resembled lasers. Down below, where the walls met the ground, looked like a strip of concrete that five Gummi ships could fit comfortably onto.

The end of the room had a bright, white light which made it impossible to guess what lay beyond it without further exploration.

To the right was a metal door, closing off Leon to what lay beyond it. Leon walked to the door and inspected it for any type of lock device, when it looked like there weren't any he pulled out the gunblade for the second time, to swipe at the door's hinges.

"Wait!" Yuffie said, using her hand to grip his arm, stopping him just before he hit the door.

Leon rose an eyebrow at her, but Yuffie just ignored his stare and walked past him. She placed her palms on the cold, metal door and pulled. The door travelled with her hands and the next thing Leon knew, was that he was looking into what looked like a Research Lab.

Yuffie smirked triumphantly, "See, you don't need to hit things all the time to get what you want."

Leon just shook his head at her, and walked into the lab. He placed the gunblade back in its holster, and walked around the room, examining every inch of it.

His eyes landed on a screen with a large keyboard, in the middle of the desk on the left of the room. The lab shared the same breathtaking scenery as the area they just came from.

"Heartless Manufactory?" Yuffie questioned, as she read the papers held in her hands.

Leon turned around from his place at the computer and looked over at Yuffie. "What did you say?"

Yuffie looked up and pointed to the scenery outside of the lab. "That, out there, is a Heartless Manufactory."

Heartless Manufactory? What was that suppose to mean? Leon wondered.

"Hm." Leon hummed aloud, before turning back to the computer. He turned it on and waited for the system to boot.

"I'm guessing that that is the town's main computer?" Yuffie asked moments later, when the computer made a noise as its desktop appeared on screen.

Leon nodded and starting looking through the computer hard drive.

_Tac, tac, tac..._

"What are you looking for?" Came Yuffie's voice again, as she peered over Leon's shoulder.

"Anything. Anything that can help." Leon responded, pausing his typing on the keys, as he read through file names.

Yuffie shrugged, "Okay, well, I will go sort through the paper work, the most important stuff we can take back to Cid, Merlin and Aerith."

"Good idea." Leon responded, his voice etched with curiosity as he came across a file that read 'Defence System.' Leon clicked onto it and a pop-up appeared on the screen.

"Login required?" Leon read. "Damn..." He muttered, this was going to be a huge pain up the-

"_Hello?"_ Said a voice, which startled Leon as it was a voice he didn't even recognise.

Leon drew gunblade and looked around the lab, expecting to see someone there. Nothing. It was just him.

"_Over here."_ Said the voice again. Leon turned around, facing the computer screen. No way...

On the screen was a small digitalised picture of a blue man. He was waving at Leon, his face not looking too pleased about something.

"Uh, can I help you?" Leon asked, feeling stupid for talking to a computer. Good thing he was alone.

The small picture nodded, and did a 'come here' motion with its hand. Leon walked closer to the screen and leaned forward so that his face was only a few inches away.

"_I need your help...you're a User, am I correct?"_ Asked the little blue man, his voice filled with urgency.

A user? Oh, did he mean... "Yes." Leon nodded in confirmation.

"_Thank goodness, my last User has been absent for so long, I thought that all hope was lost." _

"What seems to be the problem?" Leon asked, confusion eminent in his voice, just who, or what, was this thing?

"_The MCP has seemed to have gone against his original programming and is taking control of the computer. He has turned everyone against their better nature and has destroyed those who have opposed him. I am the last one left. But I fear that I won't be able to talk so freely for long. They are looking for me..."_

"Who?"

"_The heartless, the MCP was able to digitalise his own heartless, mimicking the design of the ones out in your world. He likes their obedience. They are everywhere. It isn't safe for me anymore. But before I am destroyed, I must do something to help save the computer and your town, the one that the computer protects."_

"And who are you?" Leon asked, he almost asked 'what' are you, but changed his choice of words at the last second.

"_I am a security program designed to monitor the activities of the MCP. I am called, Tron." _

"Tron." Leon repeated the name, so that he could remember it. "I'm Leon."

"_Pleased to meet you, pity it is under these circumstances."_

"What can we do to help?"

"_We? There are more Users?"_

Leon nodded.

"_I need assistance in accessing-..." _Tron was cut off mid sentence, as his image disappeared from the screen.

"Tron?" Leon asked, waiting a few seconds, "Tron!" Nothing.

"Leon, what's wrong?" Yuffie asked, as she came running in.

Leon let out a sigh. "We need to get Sora back here."

"Already? Awesome!" Yuffie mentally cheered, she loved Sora's company. "Why?"

"There may be bigger problems we are unaware of happening right under our noses."

_**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**_

**Soo, what do you guys think so far? Hope you liked Chapter One. As I mentioned above, the Hollow Bastion setting gives you soo much room to add your own bits and pieces. Please review and tell me what you think. Also let me know if you'd like me to add something that you think the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee did whenever Sora wasn't around. As you can see, I already hinted to 'Self-Defence Classes.' The lyrics may spark up such questions as 'what do they have to do with the story?' Well, they **_**do**_** have something to do with the story. Remember it's a Cloud and Leon fic. And the lyrics reflect Cloud's emotions/thoughts and past more than anything. Thanks for reading!**

**Obrigada! :)**


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